Escalation

[Zam-Zam]

This is not a good sign:


Russia's military intervention in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad has made US operations in the country more complicated. Although both countries are purportedly fighting ISIS, their larger strategies are at cross-purposes in Syria, where the US advocates a political transition in which Assad eventually steps down.


Now, in the latest sign of growing tensions between the US and Russia in Syria, the US is sending planes equipped only with air-to-air weaponry to the region, David Axe reports for The Daily Beast. As Axe notes, Russia's the only potential US adversary in Syria with its own combat aircraft.


The Pentagon announced last week that it would send up to a dozen F-15Cs to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey for operations over Syria. As The Daily Beast notes, the aircrafts' exact role remains unclear.


F-15Cs are armed with only air-to-air weaponry, making the plane unnecessary in operations against ISIS, which doesn't have a functioning air element. Instead, the jets could have one of two purposes in the region — they could either be used to help protect Turkey's border against periodic incursions by Syrian jets and helicopters.


Or, under certain circumstances, the F-15Cs could be used to help counter Russian activity over Syria. A hypothetical no-fly zone over northern Syria near the Turkish border, for instance, would have to be maintained using planes that could enforce the zone against both Russian and Syrian aircraft.

Complete text: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-moving-f-15cs-to-fight-over-syria-2015-11


And so it begins......

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

This is not a good sign:


Russia's military intervention in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad has made US operations in the country more complicated. Although both countries are purportedly fighting ISIS, their larger strategies are at cross-purposes in Syria, where the US advocates a political transition in which Assad eventually steps down.


Now, in the latest sign of growing tensions between the US and Russia in Syria, the US is sending planes equipped only with air-to-air weaponry to the region, David Axe reports for The Daily Beast. As Axe notes, Russia's the only potential US adversary in Syria with its own combat aircraft.


The Pentagon announced last week that it would send up to a dozen F-15Cs to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey for operations over Syria. As The Daily Beast notes, the aircrafts' exact role remains unclear.


F-15Cs are armed with only air-to-air weaponry, making the plane unnecessary in operations against ISIS, which doesn't have a functioning air element. Instead, the jets could have one of two purposes in the region — they could either be used to help protect Turkey's border against periodic incursions by Syrian jets and helicopters.


Or, under certain circumstances, the F-15Cs could be used to help counter Russian activity over Syria. A hypothetical no-fly zone over northern Syria near the Turkish border, for instance, would have to be maintained using planes that could enforce the zone against both Russian and Syrian aircraft.

Complete text: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-moving-f-15cs-to-fight-over-syria-2015-11


And so it begins......

Don't Tease the Bear

Putin's whole purpose in forming an alliance with Shiite Syria is to encircle Sunni Turkey and force it out of NATO. Next he'll use his military to help the Kurds gain independence from Turkey.

 

[Zam-Zam]

And then there's this to consider:

President Obama says he doesn’t want to turn the Syria conflict into a proxy war. Unfortunately, that’s already happening, as combatants join the battle against the Islamic State with radically differing agendas that could collide.


Let’s look at the confusing order of battle: The United States has decided that its strongest partner against the Islamic State is a Syrian Kurdish force known as the YPG. But Turkey, nominally our NATO ally, says the YPG has links with what it claims is a Kurdish terrorist group. How’s that going to work out? No answers yet.

Russia, meanwhile, contends that it is fighting the Islamic State, alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But Russian warplanes have been bombing Islamist rebel groups that are covertly supported by the United States, Turkey and Jordan — and these brigades are fighting back hard. The rebels are posting videos bragging about their success with U.S. anti-tank missiles. The battle looks eerily like Russia’s war in Afghanistan, in embryo. Where’s it heading? No answer there, either.

Complete text: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...73d678-826a-11e5-a7ca-6ab6ec20f839_story.html

Quagmire?

 

[LeRoy_Was_Here]

Quagmire?

I think we can sum it all up as follows: The Middle East is a God-awful MESS.